


To Infinity and Beyond

by track_04



Category: Johnny's Entertainment, Kanjani8 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-01
Updated: 2010-09-01
Packaged: 2017-11-14 17:33:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/517778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/track_04/pseuds/track_04
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryo gets a new job and a lot more than he bargained for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Infinity and Beyond

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tiethel](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Tiethel).



> Originally written for 2010 je_justfriends. Special thanks to the dynamic duo, missmonster and moogle_tey for being generally amazing and supportive.

Ryo lost his job in May. It wasn’t really _his_ fault that he’d lost his job, since the company he was working for had gone under and left him high and dry--something about top executives with sticky fingers when it came to stockholder funds and a CEO who might have had trouble keeping it in his pants--but to Ryo the reason really didn’t matter. All he knew was that he’d gone from having a decent-paying (if mind-numbingly boring) job to nothing in a week, and now he was stuck trying to find something new in a less than ideal economy.

It sucked. It sucked a lot, and he wasn’t afraid to let other people know just how much it sucked, usually at length and in great detail.

Which was probably why, one night a month and a half later when he still hadn’t managed to find any decent (or even semi-decent--he was getting a bit desperate) job prospects, he found Nino glaring at him over the top of his half-priced happy hour beer.

"What?"

"It's really hard to enjoy my beer when I have to listen to your constant bitching."

"Then don't listen."

"What do you think I’ve been trying to do for the past half hour?”

“You could have told me to shut up if it was that annoying,” Ryo grumbled, doing his best impression of a sullen preschooler.

“Well, I’m telling you now.”

“Thanks. You’re a great friend.”

Nino laughed and reached for the mostly-full bowl of peanuts between them (free, and therefore Nino’s favorite) while Ryo scowled. “If it’s that bad, why don’t you try a temp agency?”

Ryo made a face and reached for his beer. “I tried. I was either too qualified or not qualified enough.”

“That is a problem.” Nino popped a peanut into his mouth, smiling his infuriating little smile while he chewed.

“You don’t have to look so happy about it.”

“I’m not.” Nino grinned.

“Sometimes I wonder why we’re friends.”

“Because I’m so giving.” Nino lifted his hand, ignoring the more choice words that Ryo was grumbling under his breath. He waved it around once, twice and a small, white card appeared between his fingers out of thin air (or, Ryo guessed, from up his sleeve--he’d seen Nino do this trick before). He held it out with a wink.

“What’s this?” Ryo took the card, expression cautious as he read the tiny print and ignored the slightly affronted look Nino was giving him for not being dazzled by his sleight of hand.

“A temp agency.”

“ _Fabulous Enterprises_? I’ve never heard of them.”

“You wouldn’t have. They’re very specialized.”

“And they’re looking for people?”

“They’re always looking for people.” Nino reached for his beer, fingertips tracing patterns in the condensation on the side of the glass as he gave Ryo another grin. “When you call ask for Matsumoto. Tell him I sent you.”

Ryo frowned, eying the card suspiciously before he pulled out his wallet and slipped it carefully inside. It wasn’t like he had a lot of other options at the moment. It was probably worth a shot. “This had better not be your idea of a joke.”

“I guess you’ll find out once you call.” Nino’s grin widened. Sometimes Ryo _really_ wondered why they were still friends.

∞

"Well, Mr. Nishikido, you have excellent references." Matsumoto (who looked entirely too put-together to be friends with Nino, if you asked him) looked up from the file spread out across his desk and leaned back slightly in his chair.

"Thank you." Ryo nodded and smiled the pleasant, bland, not-quite-scary fake smile that he wore when he was nervous or trying to impress someone.

"We shouldn't have any problem finding you a placement." Matsumoto gave him a tight-lipped smile in return. "When would you be available to start?"

"Whenever you need me," Ryo answered, forcing another smile and hoping he didn't sound too desperate. His thoughts flashed to the ever-dwindling balance in his bank book and his upcoming rent payment and he decided that maybe a little desperation was in order. "Immediately."

"Good to hear." Matsumoto smiled and rested his hand on his desk, drumming nails that Ryo would have sworn were manicured against the polished wood. "Nino mentioned that you were from Osaka, but all the experience you’ve listed here is in Tokyo."

“I had a few jobs there when I was young, but they were all part time. Nothing that was really worth mentioning.” Ryo blinked at the other and tried not to look as confused as he felt. No one had ever really been curious about any of his part-time work before. He didn’t really think a few months as a convenience store clerk and occasionally playing errand boy for his uncle’s shop were really that noteworthy. “I could give you a new copy with those if you need it...?”

“Oh, no. I was just curious. We like to know as much about our people as possible.” Matsumoto waved a hand in the air dismissively and smiled at him, actually managing to show some teeth this time. “I think we may have something for you.”

“Really?”

Matsumoto nodded, his smile turning into a smirk. “Maybe. I’ll have to consult with a few people. I’ll contact you once I hear back from them.”

“Thank you.” Ryo stood and offered an enthusiastic, if a bit awkward, bow. “Thank you, Mr. Matsumoto. I look forward to hearing from you.”

“Don’t thank me until you get the call.” Matsumoto shook his head, standing and bowing slightly in return.

“Thank you.” Ryo smiled and they exchanged a few more brief pleasantries before he turned and left, feeling much better than he had when he’d stepped into the office that morning. On the way home he decided that maybe Nino wasn’t such a horrible friend afterall.

∞

Two days later when Ryo got a call from Matsumoto saying that he’d gotten an assignment, he thought that maybe Nino was, in fact, a great friend who just cleverly disguised himself as an occasional asshole. He spent the entire phonecall grinning from ear to ear and trying not to sound too relieved or eager as he hastily scribbled out all the information Matsumoto was feeding him. When Matsumoto finally mentioned how much the company was going to pay him, he let out a startled noise that he was pretty sure the people two floors above him could probably hear.

“They’re really going to pay me that much?” He did some quick mental math--it was nearly two and a half times what he’d been making at his old job, and he’d been working there for over three years. Whatever this company was, it must have been in good standing to be able to pay temp workers that much. He knew that Matsumoto mostly worked with companies who did highly specialized work, so it made sense that they would pay more. Still, he hadn’t really stopped to think that this meant that he’d be paid anything this outrageous.

“I’m going to guess that means you don’t have any problems with the pay, then.” Matsumoto actually laughed into the phone, a sound that made him seem oddly human.

“Yes,” Ryo answered without hesitation, his cheeks starting to hurt from smiling so much. “I mean no. No problems at all.”

“Good.” Matsumoto chuckled again. “They’ll be expecting you tomorrow morning at 8, then.”

“I’ll be there. Thank you so much, Mr. Matsumoto.”

There was a slight pause and Ryo swore he could almost hear the other smirk. “It’s my pleasure. We’ve been looking for the right person for this placement for a long time.” There was a brief pause and Ryo opened his mouth to say his goodbyes, but Matsumoto cut him off before he could manage to get the words out. “Good luck tomorrow.”

“Thanks.” It wasn’t until after he’d hung up that Ryo stopped to wonder about the other man’s tone. He would have almost sworn there was an unspoken “because you’ll need it” at the end of Matsumoto’s well-wishes.

∞

The next day, standing in front of the address that Matsumoto had given him, Ryo realized that he’d forgotten to ask the other a few very important questions. Like what, exactly, this company _did_ and what _he_ would be doing here. He couldn’t help but think that if he’d asked those questions he might have some clue as to why the address Matsumoto had given him seemed to be for an abandoned comic shop in one of the seedier areas of Akihabara.

He frowned, reaching up to tug at his tie nervously as he glanced at the slip of paper he’d used to jot down the details again, then back up at the building. This was definitely the address he’d been given, but this couldn’t be right. This place didn’t look like it had seen human life--let alone business--for the better part of a decade. Not to mention it didn’t exactly look like it was that reputable when it was open, if the faded posters for dating sims and manga with dubious premises (and girls with lots of cleavage) were any indication.

Not that Ryo had any problem working somewhere that sold questionable manga and video game porn--a job was a job and with the amount they were paying him, he could stand selling virtual girlfriends and girlxgirl (and maybe some boyxboy, if he was going to be honest) Final Fantasy doujinshi to weirdo fanboys. He would have liked to have some warning that fanboys and tentacle porn were soon to be part of his career path, though.

He wondered a bit hopefully if maybe he’d written the address down wrong.

Ryo glanced at his watch and weighed the pros and cons of calling Matsumoto to double check that the address he had was correct. He’d almost convinced himself that it might be worth any potential annoyance on the other man’s part when a hand clamped down on his shoulder, startling a yelp that he later convinced himself was entirely manly out of him.

“Morning!”

Ryo jumped and whirled around to face his attacker, envisioning someone tall and intimidating and possibly armed with a knife. What he got, instead, was someone sort of tall who apparently thought scaring the shit out of random strangers on the street was perfectly acceptable, if the way he was grinning crookedly at him and laughing was any indication. Ryo gave him a sour look and took a step back, eying his free hand for a knife (just in case) as he shrugged the other one off his shoulder roughly. “What the hell?”

“Sorry.” The man shook his head, still laughing. If you asked Ryo he didn’t look sorry at all. “You’re Nishikido Ryo, right?”

“I--yes,” Ryo mumbled, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Oh good. Looks like you found the place alright, then,” the man continued, voice just a bit too loud and smile a bit too bright to be totally natural. “I’m Yokoyama. I’ll be showing you around today.”

“Wait, you work here?”

“I not only work here, I’m in charge. Well, mostly. Murakami will try to tell you differently, but you really shouldn’t listen to him.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Yokoyama.” Ryo bowed automatically and tried not to be too horrified that this was apparently his new boss. It was hard when the other let out a nervous laugh and smiled at him stupidly as Ryo lifted his head.

“Just Yoko is fine. We’re not really that formal around here.” Yokoyama grinned and nodded his head at the alley beside the building. “So, ready for the grand tour?”

“Sure.” Ryo shrugged, forgetting to be polite in the wake of the other’s informality. He followed him down the alleyway to a door set into the side of the building, wondering as he waited for Yoko to dig out his keys what, exactly, he was getting himself into.

∞

“Is this some kind of joke?” Ryo crossed his arms over his chest, his lips twitching into a frown as he stared in disbelief across the cluttered room that Yoko had referred to as his “office”.

“Do I look like I’m joking?” Yokoyama grinned at him and held up a hand when Ryo opened his mouth to answer. “Okay, don’t answer that. It’s not a joke, though.”

“So, let me get this straight.” Ryo gave in and frowned, shifting against the plastic back of the chair that Yoko had offered him, trying to get comfortable. “You are the leader of a secret group of Kansai-born crime fighting superheroes who use this defunct comic shop as your secret base in your ongoing mission to save the world. And you want me to join you.”

“We prefer to think of ourselves as sentai more than superheroes, but that’s the gist of it.”

“Oh, sentai. Well, that’s completely reasonable, then.” Ryo rolled his eyes. “I guess this means you’ll be giving me a mecha as a company vehicle, then?”

“Mecha aren’t quite in our budget.” Yokoyama sighed and looked half-disappointed with his own answer. “If you decide to stay on long-term you get a scooter, though.”

Ryo sighed and shook his head, rising from his seat, his frown morphing into a scowl. “Tell Nino nice try. I’m going to look for an actual job.”

“You also get a uniform and discount movie tickets?”

Ryo groaned and started toward the door.

“Wait.” Yokoyama stood and moved to block Ryo’s escape, holding his hands in the air in front of him and grinning almost sheepishly. “I know it sounds crazy, but I need you to just trust me.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you really like my face?” Yokoyama laughed nervously when Ryo scowled and tried to step around him. “Okay, okay! I’ll pay you for the first two weeks up front.”

“Up front?” Ryo pursed his lips and gave him a suspicious look. “What if I decide to quit before the two weeks is up?”

“Then you can keep it.” Yoko shrugged. “But if you stay, I’ll give you a bonus.”

“What kind of bonus?”

“50,000 yen.”

Well, shit. As crazy as this whole situation and Yokoyama seemed, Ryo couldn’t really turn down that much money. “And the bonus is just for the first two weeks? I don’t have to agree to work longer?”

“Just for the first two weeks. No catch.”

“Why would you waste money on someone who might not stick around?”

“Honestly? We’re desperate. You’d be surprised how hard it is to find people willing to dedicate their lives to saving the world these days.”

“Not that surprised,” Ryo deadpanned, the pro of having money in the bank already outweighing the many cons of working with someone who seemed more than a little mentally unbalanced. “Aren’t you afraid I’m in it just for the money? I thought you were supposed to do things like this for Great Justice or some crap like that.”

“It’s really hard to work a day job _and_ save the world. Great Justice is nice, but you probably like to eat and pay your rent just as much as the average person does.” Yoko lowered his hands now that it seemed like Ryo wasn’t going to make any sudden dashes for the door. “So, are you in?”

Ryo pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. “When were you planning on paying me?”

“Tomorrow morning. I’ll have our accountant cut you a check..” He waved his hand in the air, smiling uncertainly. “Is that a yes, then?”

Ryo sighed, shoulders drooping in defeat. “Sure. Why not?”

“You won’t regret it!” Yoko clapped him on the shoulder hard enough to make him stumble to the side and grinned from ear to ear. Ryo just glared at him half-heartedly and hoped that he wasn’t making the biggest mistake of his life by agreeing to this.

∞

“I need your phone number.”

“What?” Ryo pulled one of the lopsided plastic chairs scattered around the sprawling back room behind the comic shop--their “war room”, Yoko had called it during yesterday’s tour--and eyed Yoko warily. “What for?”

“Top secret communication.” Yoko held out a cup of convenience store coffee and Ryo leaned forward to take it, his expression relaxing slightly as he opened the top and took a sip. “What type of top secret communication?”

“Mission details, rendezvous locations, birthday party invites--the usual.”

Ryo thought about declining, because the thought of Yoko being able to contact him anytime he wanted was a little frightening, but then decided it wasn’t really worth arguing. If anything, he could always just block Yoko’s number if he got too irritating. “Fine.” Ryo sighed and dug his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open one-handed and rattled off his number.

“Wait.” Yoko had his phone open and was staring at it, eyes narrowed and tongue pushed against his cheek as he mumbled just loud enough for Ryo to catch what he was saying. “...dammit, how do I do this again? Never letting them talk me into upgrading again....”

Ryo sipped at his coffee and watched the other struggle for a few more minutes before the constant beeping got on his nerves and he reached out to snatch the phone from him.

“Hey--” Yoko started, but shut up when Ryo handed the phone back to him less than a minute later. “What did you do--oh, hey. How did you do that so fast?”

Ryo resisted the urge to point out that he wasn’t an idiot like some people and instead focused on sipping at his coffee while Yoko fiddled with his phone, muttering far too excitedly over something so trivial. He wondered how someone could possibly save the world when they couldn’t even program a new number into their phone. He was halfway done with his coffee and still hadn’t managed to find a suitable answer to the question (other than there probably wasn’t much world saving that actually went on here) when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out, frowning when he flipped it open and saw a text waiting for him. From a number that he was guessing belonged to Yoko, if the way the other was grinning proudly at him was any indication.

**MISSION DETAILS. DO NOT ERASE!!!  
** CODE NAME: OSAKA OBACHAN ROCK  
PARTNER: BLACK  
TIME: 09:30  
LOCATION: TBA 

“You couldn’t have just told me this? You’re sitting five feet away.”

“We like to keep all of our communications secure. You never know who might be lurking around, trying to hone in on our plans.” Yoko snapped his phone shut with a serious look.

“Does that happen a lot?”

“No, but there’s a first time for everything.”

Ryo sighed and made a point to delete the message while Yoko was watching. “ _Osaka Obachan ROCK_ \--what the hell does that mean, anyway?”

“Mission title,” Yoko explained with an air of authority. “Rule #1 of being an Eito Ranger: always speak in code. It keeps the enemy guessing. Also, it sounds cool.”

“Please tell me we don’t seriously call ourselves the ‘Eito Rangers’.”

“Why not? It’s intimidating.”

“To who?”

“Evil billionaires, criminals, space creatures, enemies of peace and justice--” Yoko held up his fingers, ticking off the points one by one.

“--five year olds,” Ryo mumbled under his breath, earning a half-hearted glare from the other man. “Why ‘Eito’, anyway? I thought you said there were five other guys besides you and me.”

“We have another spot open. Recruiting’s been a bit tough.” Yoko perked up slightly. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to know anyone--”

“No.” Ryo cut him off, and stood with a sigh. “Can we just get this over with?”

“Sure.” Yoko stood and pulled a bag from somewhere amidst the clutter filling the room and handed it to him with a grin. “After we change into our uniforms.”

“If that in any way resembles something that a Power Ranger would wear, I am walking out of here right now.”

“Oh, don’t worry. We only wear our dress uniforms on special occasions.”

Ryo took the bag, hoping that either Yoko was joking. If not, he was making a point to find a new job before any such occasions happened.

∞

“Remind me how this qualifies as saving the world again?” Ryo reached up to adjust the fake beard that Yoko had insisted he wear as part of his uniform (“To help hide your true identity!” “Does anyone even _care_ about my true identity?” “...they could. Maybe. Just wear it anyway. It makes you look more manly.”) and turned to give the other a Look.

“We’re helping lessen the stress of average citizens’ daily lives and cherishing the wisdom and experience of our elders,” Yoko mumbled back, reaching up to pet his matching moustache absently.

“All we’ve done is ask a couple of old ladies if they wanted help carrying their groceries or crossing the street. One who screamed and ran away and another who tried to beat us to death with her cane.”

“Yeah, she had a mean swing on that thing, too.” Yoko dropped his hand from his moustache and winced. “But we’re not in this for fame and recognition. Part of being a Ranger is defending everyone, whether they appreciate our protection or not.”

“You know, they might appreciate our protection more if we weren’t wearing these ridiculous outfits.” Ryo motioned to the trench coats and shady looking sunglasses Yoko had supplied along with their fake facial hair, claiming that they would allow them both to ‘blend into the crowd’. “We look like perverts.”

“We do not.”

Ryo snorted. “How many people do you see walking around Tokyo dressed like this?”

“A lot.”

“Not in Akihabara?” Ryo frowned as Yoko opened his mouth to answer. “Or hanging around train stations after dark.”

“I’ve seen some in Kabuki-cho,” Yoko mumbled, glancing down at his coat with a defeated sigh. “Okay, you may have a point. Do you think it would help if we lost the sunglasses?”

“And the facial hair.” Ryo nodded, already reaching up to peel his beard off with a relieved sigh, grimacing at the sticky feeling it left behind on his skin. He tossed it and his sunglasses into a nearby trashcan--earning him a sour look from Yoko--and rubbed at his once again smooth chin.

Yoko pouted as he reluctantly pulled his moustache and sunglasses off and stuffed them in the pocket of his coat for safe keeping. “You owe me 3000 yen for that beard.”

“You paid 3000 yen for a fake beard?”

“It was made with real hair.” Ryo made a horrified face and started to scratch everywhere the beard had touched his skin. He was two seconds away from running into the nearest store for some hand sanitizer or soap when Yoko started cackling. “Just kidding.”

“I hate you.”

“I can’t help but think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Yoko grinned and clapped Ryo on the shoulder. “Seriously, though, you do owe me 3000 yen. Quality fake facial hair isn’t cheap. I’ll let you treat me to lunch to make up for it.”

“How kind of you.” Ryo sighed and did a quick mental tabulation of the money he had in his wallet. He really hoped Yoko didn’t eat a lot. “And what about the little old ladies and their need to get across the street?”

“They’ll still be here when we get back. Can’t save the world on an empty stomach.”

Ryo started to argue, but decided that 3000 yen was probably worth less than the effort it would take to change the other’s mind. He made a mental note to submit his resume to one of those online job search sites when he got home, though. Just in case any of his other co-workers got any funny ideas about trench coats and facial hair.

∞

The next morning Ryo’s phone woke him up bright and early, the familiar sound of _Konayuki_ pulling him out of a rather pleasant dream and into reluctant wakefulness. He groaned and felt around his bedside table for it, thinking that this was probably the first and only time he’d been displeased to hear Fujimaki’s voice. Bleary eyed, he flipped open the phone and pressed the button to open the waiting text, bringing the screen up close and squinting to make out the words through his early-morning haze.

**oh enka. comic shop. 10 am. - red**

Ryo stared at the screen dumbly, trying to figure out who the hell “Red” was and why he was texting him about Enka at 7:30 in the morning. It only took a moment for his memory to kick-in, fighting past the sleep grogginess--the comic shop, his new job, the as of yet still mysterious 5 other people he was working with now. Yoko had mentioned something about Ryo going on a “mission” with one of the others today, hadn’t he?

Ryo snapped the phone shut and swung his legs off the side of the bed, rubbing a hand over his face and trying to force his brain to wake up completely. Another mission. Hopefully Red, whoever he was, was less fond of disguises and had a better way with old women than Yoko did. Actually, he kind of hoped this mission had absolutely nothing to do with old women at all. There was only so much bruising his legs and pride could take.

∞ 

If Ryo had to think of one word to describe his day so far, it would have been ‘awkward’. If he had to think of two, they would be ‘extremely awkward’.

Ryo was an awkward person by nature, so he was generally used to awkward conversations and situations. That didn’t mean that he _enjoyed_ them, though, which was why he’d made a habit of surrounding himself with as many non-awkward (or at least less awkward than he was) people as possible. His friends and associates tended to either be the more laid back or out-going types, people who could initiate a conversation and keep it going when Ryo didn’t quite know what to say. They were also people that he’d known for a long time and trusted, people who knew how to read him and how to take some of the less than tactful things that he said.

Red--or Subaru, as the other had told him to call him in an awkward mumble when they’d met up in front of the comic shop that morning--was none of these things. He didn’t really seem like a bad person, from what Ryo could tell (and he actually suspected he might be kind of cool, if his long hair, faded jeans and Buck Tick t-shirt were anything to go by), but his awkward shyness seemed to rival Ryo’s. So far, they’d only spoken twice aside from their initial introduction, once when Ryo asked where they were going so he could buy the proper train ticket and once more when Subaru had told Ryo his shoelace was untied. The rest of the time--most of which had consisted of a painfully silent, hour-long train ride--Ryo had spent desperately trying to come up with appropriate topics of conversation and failing miserably. He’d almost asked about the guitar case that Subaru had propped up on the seat beside him, but he couldn’t quite think of the way to word the question. For his part, Subaru had done a really good job of trying to stare a hole into the floor of the train.

It wasn’t until they’d exited the train, walked for 20 minutes and entered a tiny, out of the way cafe nestled between a dry cleaners and a shop that seemed to sell every kind of cheap trinket imaginable that Subaru finally broke the silence. They’d settled into a pair of empty chairs in one corner of the cafe and an overly-friendly woman who reminded Ryo a bit too much of his mother brought them each a mug of tea when Subaru turned to him, looking him in the eye for the first time since Ryo had met him and motioning to the guitar case propped up against the wall on his other side. “Do you play?”

“Uh--yeah. A little.” Ryo nodded, trying to decide if he felt more awkward now that they were sort of having a conversation or during the silence up to this point.

Subaru muttered something and looked pleased (or at least Ryo was guessing that was what he looked like when pleased) as he grabbed the case and opened it, taking out the guitar and offering it to him.

Ryo arched an eyebrow and set his tea down, taking it from him. He rested it in his lap and ran a finger against the strings, pleased by the sound they made, and threw Subaru a questioning look. “You want me to play?”

“Not yet.” Subaru met his eyes again, just as the front door to the cafe swung open and a line of old men shuffled inside, laughing and slapping each other on the back and carrying what Ryo thought might be Mahjong sets with them. Subaru turned and waved at the group, who seemed to have just noticed them and were calling out Subaru’s name and waving enthusiastically as they approached. Ryo thought he heard one particularly enthusiastic man at the back of the crowd call out a song title and he gave Subaru a look that could only be described as a deer in the headlights.

“We’re not--”

“We are.” Subaru broke out into a grin, his face transforming into something just this side of crazy and Ryo felt somehow betrayed.

“Let me guess. More ‘cherishing the wisdom of our elders’?” Ryo hissed under his breath as the old men gathered around them.

“Yeah, but I like this method more than Yoko’s. Less bruises this way.” Subaru’s grin widened, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

“Thank god for that.”

∞

A few hours and more songs than Ryo could count later, they were on the train back home, the silence between them not quite as awkward this time. Beside him, Subaru was counting up the coins that the old men had tossed in Subaru’s guitar case throughout their little jam session.

Ryo watched him and couldn’t help but grin. “Isn’t making money at this against the rules or something?”

Subaru shrugged and turned, offering him half their earnings with a grin of his own. “What Yoko doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

Ryo laughed and pocketed the money, thinking that maybe this job wasn’t so bad afterall.

∞

The mission with Subaru had apparently lulled Ryo into some sort of false sense of security, because when he woke up to a phone call from an unfamiliar number the next morning, he wasn’t nearly as suspicious as he should have been. Then again, his lack of foreboding could have also had to do with the chipperness of the person on the other end of the line (“Blue, but you can call me Yasu!”) and all the odd questions he was throwing rapidfire at Ryo’s still half-asleep brain (“Do you like coffee?” “You own tennis shoes, right?” “Do you have any hand puppets or should I bring my own?”). Still, the fact that his mission with Subaru had actually been almost relaxing and enjoyable was the only excuse he could come up with as to why getting a call from an overenthusiastic stranger at six in the morning hadn’t set off any of alarm bells in his head. He’d been so unbothered, in fact, that after he hung up he managed to roll over, bury his face against his pillow and promptly fall back to sleep.

When he woke up to banging on his front door half an hour later, he knew he’d been wrong to hope that today was going to be as easy (if awkward) as the day before. He was still rubbing sleep out of his eyes as he pulled open his front door, grumbling about the evils of early mornings, to find a man on the other side who looked like he’d had a rumble with a unicorn or a color blind preschooler and come out on the losing end. He didn’t even know it was possible for one person to wear that many colors at once. And was that a teddy bear on his hat? Ryo rubbed at his eyes again, half-convinced he was still dreaming.

“Yellow?” The man smiled at him so brightly that Ryo actually felt the need to lean back so it wouldn’t hurt his eyes. It was definitely way, way too early for this.

“Ryo.”

“Oh, good--you don’t mind if I call you Ryo? I always feel weird using the code names.” Ryo must have given him a confused look because he toned down his grin and tilted his head to one side. “Yasuda Shota--Blue--I just talked to you on the phone. We get to work together today.”

Ryo grunted, still a bit too dazzled by the other’s technicolor wardrobe and rapid fire speech. “Do you always have this much energy?”

“Most of the time.” Yasuda laughed and held up a bag. “But I brought breakfast.”

“You had time to buy breakfast?”

“I didn’t feel like sleeping last night. Any chance I can come inside? There’s still time to eat before we have to leave.”

Ryo sighed and swung his door open, stepping to the side to make room for the other. “Sure, why not.” He obviously wasn’t going to be getting any sleep anyway. “So what’s the mission for today, anyway?”

“ **Wahaha**.”

“ **Wahaha**? Please tell me you’re not making me to do street manzai for the masses.” Ryo groaned.

Yasuda slipped off his shoes, revealing rainbow colored toe socks as he stepped up into the apartment, throwing Ryo another smile over his shoulder. It would have been cute, if not for the evil glimmer Ryo swore he could see in the other’s eyes. “That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

∞

Ryo was in hell and he was pretty sure that Yasuda was, in fact, Satan. Or at the very least some kind of demon that won you over with candy and cute smiles before it drug you down into the pit to be tortured for the rest of your days.

When they’d left his apartment together this morning, he’d been pretty certain that his day was going to be a lot more like the one he’d spent with Yoko (annoying, long, and possibly resulting in bodily harml) and less like the one he’d spent with Subaru (sort of enjoyable, if awkward). What he hadn’t been expecting or prepared for, even with the constant reminders he’d been giving himself on the trip over here about just how much today was going to suck, was children.

Lots and lots of children.

A whole classroom full of them, in fact, tiny and snot nosed and all staring at _him_ like they could somehow see into his soul. Ryo almost would have preferred to be stuck in a room full of angry old women armed with canes.

It wasn’t that he hated kids, really. It was that he was exceptionally weak to their round little face and cute little voices and, kids being kids, they always somehow _knew_ this about him. His niece had had him wrapped around her finger since she was old enough to babble baby nonsense and pout at him until she got her way, and even kids that weren’t related to him weren’t much better (unless they were babies, but babies were small and weird and he never knew quite how to deal with kids until they were old enough to toddle around on their own and started acting more like people, anyway).

Every time he was around small children and he actually let his guard down, he found himself doing ridiculous things just to make them laugh and smile and do all that other cute kid shit that he would never in a million years admit to loving. And he really didn’t want to risk that here in public, where other people could _see_.

Although he was starting to wonder if that was a risk here, since so far today these kids seemed more hellbent on showing him just how bratty and kid-like they could be rather than dazzling him with their cuteness. So far in the hour and a half since he and Yasu had arrived at the kindergarten and donned their sickeningly bright aprons, Ryo had been bitten twice, scratched once, called short, kicked in the shin and hit in the face with a shoe. And all of those things had happened over the course of the 20 minute outdoor recess that he and Yasuda had spent trying to monitor the pack of vicious five-year-olds in the class they were assigned to as volunteers.

Ryo decided he was going to do everything in his power to keep a low profile for the rest of the day and avoid both the bratty behaviour and any potential cuteness for the rest of the time that he was stuck here.

Only it seemed like Yasuda had other plans, since he was currently tugging on Ryo’s arm and pulling him out of his safe little corner away from the mayhem and over into the large circle of children gathered at one corner of the classroom, all watching him with varied amounts of interest. He had the strong urge to turn tail and run, but Yasuda was already pulling him into an empty spot in the circle and urging him to sit, and he figured that punching and/or swearing at someone in front of small children wasn’t such a hot idea.

He took a reluctant seat and Yasuda sat beside him with his legs crossed, fitting in with the children around them a bit too well and looking, in Ryo’s opinion, like a slightly taller version of the kids around them. It made him feel a bit out of place in his much more drab t-shirt and jeans.

Ryo sighed and crossed his own legs, watching as the other man picked up a book and held it in front of himself, turning it this way and that so that all the kids could get a good look at the cover, earning him a round of excited squeals (and one groan from a boy just to his left, Ryo noted--he thought he could appreciate where that kid was coming from).

“Is everyone ready for storytime?”

“Yes!”

“Good!” Yasuda grinned, his eyes drifting around the circle for a long moment before settling on Ryo. “Before we get started, I want to introduce you to my friend. This is Ryo. Everyone say ‘Hi, Ryo’!”

“Hi, Ryo!”

Ryo tried very hard not to look directly into any of the children’s eyes as they all chimed his name, but he found it next to impossible when there were so many of them and they were all staring right at him. So, he did what any self-respecting grown man would do: he smiled back and gave a little wave, defeated.

“Would you guys like to have Ryo read you a story?”

Ryo started to protest, but the words died in his throat at the chorus of agreement from around the circle (save the one little boy to his left, who gave a very enthusiastic ‘no’ that was lost somewhere among all the other voices; Ryo decided he really liked that kid).

With a sigh and a smile that promised Yasuda he would pay for this, he reached out a hand to take the book. The other handed it off and gave him another of his patented blinding smiles, but somewhere underneath it Ryo could see that glimmer of something sinister he’d seen earlier in his apartment. Yasuda was definitely the devil.

But he supposed if he was going to be stuck in hell for the rest of the day, he might as well make the most of it.

∞

Exhausted was not the word for what Ryo felt when Yasuda dropped him off at home (after taking him out for post-mission dinner and celebratory drinks that Ryo, thankfully, did not have to pay for; Ryo decided that Yasuda qualified as a mostly not annoying co-worker just for that) that evening. He didn’t even know if there _was_ a word for what he felt as he collapsed into bed. He didn’t have long to search for the right word, though, as he fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow and spent the next eight blissful hours sleeping before his phone went off first thing the next morning and woke him up.

He really could have done without the last part, especially since he was in the middle of a dream where he had his old job back and was getting paid outrageous amounts of money to do boring, repetitive, _normal_ office work that didn’t involve bizarre mission titles or children or quirky co-workers that Ryo couldn’t quite decide if he loved or hated (he was leaning towards ‘hated’, especially after he’d overhead Yasuda promising the kids that he and Ryo would _both_ be back again in a few weeks). He had half a mind to pull his pillow over his head and ignore the phone until whoever it was went away, but apparently his mind and his hand seemed to be working on separate wavelengths, since it was already reaching out of its own accord and grabbing his phone and flipping it open so he could read the text waiting for him.

**This is Orange (Maru ^0^)!!  
** Today our mission is... FUKA FUKA LOVE THE EARTH! o(^_^)o  
Meet me at TOKYO STATION!!  
Is 11 alright with you? I hope it’s not too early. ( >_>)v  
Wear old shoes!  
I can’t wait to meet you, Yellow.  
Let’s have fun today! 

Ryo glanced at his clock--8 Well, at least Orange was letting him sleep in. He set the alarm on his phone for 9:30 and shoved it back on his nightstand, thinking that if there was a god, he’d see to it that today did not involve old women, children, or stupid disguses in any way, shape or form.

∞

Ryo wasn’t quite sure where he stood on the whole God issue.

On the one hand, his day with Maru had been blessedly free of both children and old ladies so far. On the other, he was currently dressed in a pair of coveralls, picking up trash along a stretch of grass on the side of highway 357. He wasn’t exactly sure that this was the trade he was looking for, and it definitely wasn’t what he’d thought Maru meant when he’d heard the mission title. He really wasn’t sure what he’d been thinking of when he’d heard the mission title, but he’d definitely been hoping for something less dirty that involved less humidity and a lot more air conditioning.

He was hot, still felt sticky from getting smacked in the face by a half-full soda that some jackass driving by had chucked out his window (something Maru had apologized for repeatedly while trying to mop cola off Ryo’s face until Ryo had told him to shut the hell up already since it wasn’t his fault), and he was pretty sure he was starting to smell like the B.O. and garbage. Not really his idea of fun.

“So, do you like being a Ranger?”

It took Ryo a moment to realize that Maru was talking to him, his general discomfort making it hard to focus on much else. He tied off the garbage bag in his hands and dropped it on the ground, straightening with a groan. He did not know how Maruyama apparently found the energy to do this three times a week (if his rambling was to be believed). Ryo’s back could barely take a day. “It’s okay, I guess.”

Maruyama smiled at him and hummed. “Do you think you’ll stay?”

Ryo swallowed and stretched to cover his hesitation as he struggled to come up with an answer. He’d been planning to run away as far and fast as he could once these first two weeks were over and his obligation was up, but he hadn’t planned on telling any of his co-workers that and he hadn’t been expecting anyone to bother asking. “I don’t know.”

“You’re honest, at least.” Maru grinned, tying off his trash bag and tossing it beside Ryo’s. “Everyone thinks you’ve been doing a really good job. We want you to stay.”

“Thanks,” Ryo mumbled, not quite sure how to take the compliment. It was actually kind of nice to know that he was wanted, even if it was somewhere he didn’t really have any desire to be. That wasn’t really a good reason to stay, though.

Maru met his eyes, gave him another grin and turned, stretching his arms up above his head with an exaggerated sigh. “Ahhh, it looks so clean here now! We did a good job today.”

“It’s just going to be dirty again tomorrow.”

“Maybe.” Maru lowered his arms and turned back to smile at him. “I’ll just have to come back here in a few weeks and do it again, then.”

“Doesn’t that piss you off?” Ryo frowned. It pissed _him_ off, that was for sure. What was the point in trying if people were just going to ruin a day’s worth of hard work because they were too lazy to toss their garbage in a trashcan?

“If I let it piss me off, I wouldn’t keep doing this.” Maru shrugged and smiled the more relaxed version of his smile and threw his arm across Ryo’s shoulders. “So, I thought once we finished loading up all of these bags we could stop by one of the public baths in town and grab a bite to eat.”

Ryo looked at the other sideways and shrugged, doing his best not to let on just how amazing that idea sounded now. “Sure.”

“It’ll be my treat.”

Ryo nodded and added Maru to his mental list of things about this job that weren’t completely annoying.

∞

“This had better be good. Today is my day off,” Ryo hissed as he clutched his phone against his ear, refusing to open his eyes. He was starting to regret having given Yoko his phone number.

Or, you know, agreeing to give this stupid job a test run in the first place.

“Good morning Sunshine. Or should I say afternoon.” There was a slight pause, just long enough for Ryo’s mind to register that it was Nino on the other end of the phone and not one of his bizarre new co-workers. “Is working life that hard that you have to sleep all day?”

Ryo snorted and didn’t bother pointing out that Nino wasn’t really one to talk with his all night video game sessions and follow up all day sleeping marathons. “I think my co-workers are trying to kill me.”

“I hope they’re at least being creative about it.”

“I’m going to end up dead on a playground somewhere, beaten to death by old women and small children.”

“Well, that is pretty creative.” Ryo knew just by the tone of Nino’s voice that the other was probably smirking at the phone, but he didn’t really have the energy to argue with him right now. “So, I take it the job’s not working out, then?”

“I’m in hell. Hell with grown men who think they can save the world dressing like perverts and busking for old men.”

“If it’s that bad, you could always call Jun and ask him to find you another placement.”

“Jun?”

“Matsumoto. From the temp agency.”

“I can’t do that. It’ll make me sound like a quitter.” Ryo buried his face against the pillow with a groan.

“If you’re going to be a chicken about it, I could just tell him for you.”

“Yes, because a grown man asking his friend to pass messages along for him is an ideal job prospect.” Ryo rolled onto his back and shook his head at the ceiling. “It’s okay. I just have to stick it out for another week.”

“Then what?”

“I’ll figure something out.”

“Suit yourself.” Nino laughed, sounding far too pleased with Ryo’s predicament.

Ryo didn’t feel very guilty when he hung up on him without saying goodbye.

∞

On Monday, Ryo didn’t wake up to a text message or phone call or any other annoying attempts by one of his co-workers to contact him. Instead, he managed to sleep until 10, when he woke up well-rested and in the best mood he’d been in in weeks.

Until, that was, he looked at his clock and realized just how late it was and had maybe gotten a bit worked up thinking that he’d managed to sleep through his teammate of the day’s phone call and/or text. This fear was put to rest when he flipped open his phone and found the only things waiting there for him were the time and his outdated phone wallpaper.

After taking a moment to calm himself down (he may have been seriously considering finding other employment, but he’d rather it was because he wanted to and not because he’d overslept and gotten fired--even if he wasn’t quite sure if Yoko was capable of firing anyone), he started to wonder exactly _why_ no one had contacted him. He ran through a list of possibilities in his head, decided they were all stupid, and then called the first person he could think of who might have had an answer.

How that person ended up being Yoko, he had no clue.

“‘lo?” Yoko’s voice was muffled and thick with sleep when he picked up, a fact which made Ryo feel a small surge of vindication at being the one waking people up for once.

“No one’s contacted me about work today.”

“What? Oh... work. This is Ryo, right?” Yoko yawned loudly into the phone, not waiting for Ryo’s answer before he continued. “That’s weird. You’re working with Orange today?”

“No, he was on Friday.”

“Ohhhh, then today you’re with Green.” Yoko let out a sleepy laugh. “You probably won’t hear from him for a few more hours. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“Really?”

“Green works at his own pace.” Ryo glanced at the clock. He really didn’t mind having a few more hours at home, but it made him worried what the hell this Green had in mind if they were getting a start so late in the day. As if he could read his mind, Yoko chose that moment to speak again. “Don’t worry about it too much. You’ll like this mission.”

“Somehow I have trouble believing that coming from you.” Ryo sighed and hung up on him and tried to decide what to do with his unexpected free time.

∞

True to Yoko’s word, Ryo didn’t hear anything from Green--or Ohkura, as he’d mumblingly introduced himself--until well into the afternoon. He was just starting to get annoyed with how long the other was taking when his phone beeped the tinny melody that signalled he’d gotten a text and he snatched it off the coffee table, ready to be severely pissed if it was from anyone but his wayward teammate.

Luckily it was from Green and he didn’t have cause to be pissed at anyone (for now, at least).

**Hey. The mission is Kanfuu Fighting.  
Meet me in front of the comic shop at 3.**

Ryo had to give it to him--he may not have been the most punctual, but at least he was concise.

The text and, in particular, the mission title had been cause for worry, though. If something called _Wahaha_ could be as bad as Yasu’s mission had been, he could only imagine what _Kanfuu Fighting_ would be like. He’d spent the whole train ride and walk to the comic shop worrying about it and silently hoping that someone would jump out and try to mug him or something so he’d have an excuse not to go. Unfortunately (or fortunately, he guessed, since the more he thought about it the less appealing spending his night filling out a police report seemed), that didn’t happen and he found himself outside the comic shop, right on time.

...only to find that Green wasn’t there, and still wasn’t there half an hour after their meeting time.

Ryo was well past annoyed and on his way to legitimately pissed and was actually considering texting Green (which was doubly annoying, given how much he hated texting people) when the other finally showed up, looking half-asleep and not at all apologetic. He was either really good at ignoring the looks that Ryo was giving him or just didn’t care, introducing himself and leading Ryo away from the shop as if he hadn’t shown up almost fourty minutes late without an explanation.

Ryo was too busy silently fuming to pay attention to where Ohkura was leading him through the maze of side streets until the stopped abruptly in front of what looked like a tacky looking Chinese restaurant and Ryo narrowly avoided running into his back. “What are we doing here?”

“Our mission.” Ohkura stretched his arms in front of him and cracked his knuckles, his face spreading into the first smile that Ryo had seem him wear. He actually looked mostly awake now.

“And what’s that?”

Ohkura just smiled and pointed at the menu tacked outside the restaurant door and stepped inside.

Ryo followed him inside, grumbling about annoying co-workers and their inability to actually give him a straight forward answer.

∞

Six hours, three restaurants, and enough food that Ryo felt vaguely ill later, he still wasn’t any closer to actually knowing what their mission was. Ohkura had mumbled something about checking food quality mid-meal at the second restaurant, but Ryo had been too busy wondering how Ohkura could possibly eat that much to really listen. Whatever the reason, it didn’t seem like something that contributed greatly to saving the world, but, then again, none of the things he’d done so far really had. He hadn’t been kicked or had things thrown in his face once, and aside from the slight nausea he felt after that last dumpling, he was feeling pretty good overall, so he wasn’t really going to complain. His annoyance at the other’s lateness aside, he didn’t actually think he minded missions with Green so much.

Ohkura was just finishing off the last of his fried rice when a man slid into the booth beside Ryo and gave him a crooked smile. “So, you ready?”

Ryo blinked and tried to scoot away from the stranger, not even caring if he was discrete or not. “Ready for what?”

“The mission, of course.” The man laughed, and smacked him playfully on the arm. “Didn’t Ohkura tell you?”

“No...?”

“Ohkura!”

Ohkura paused in his eating long enough to smile sheepishly. “I forgot.”

“You forgot? How could you forget?” The man tsk’d and leaned across the table to smack him across the back of the head before he turned back to Ryo. “This idiot was supposed to tell you that we’re going on a mission after this. I’m Shingo, by the way. Or Purple, but Yoko’s the only one who insists on using the stupid code names.”

“Another one?” Ryo tried not to groan. He really didn’t want to think about doing anything besides going home and slipping into a food induced coma at the moment.

Shingo laughed and slapped him on the arm again. “Don’t look so scared. You’ll like it. I promise.”

“I’m coming, too,” Ohkura chimed in from across the table, sounding more energetic than he had all day.

Ryo looked between the pair of them and sighed. “Please tell me this doesn’t involve more food.”

From the way Hina laughed at that, he was pretty sure the answer was no.

∞

Luckily, there hadn’t been any food involved in Shingo’s mission-- **Musekinin Hero** , as the other had let him know on the train ride from Akihabara to Ginza, while Ryo was trying very hard to will away the too-full feeling in his stomach--thus far.

There had, however, been beer. Lots and lots of beer, none of which was doing much to help Ryo start feeling any less full or sick. It was doing a good job of making him care a whole lot less about either, though, and he found himself laughing a bit more freely at the conversation going on around the table than he normally would.

When they’d climbed off the train in Ginza, Shingo had drug them both to a small, hole-in-the-wall bar a few blocks down from the station, telling them that they were here to boost the morale of the common man. As far as Ryo could tell, said morale boosting involved dirty jokes, laughter, and copious amounts of beer. Thinking back on his own life as an office worker, he couldn’t say that he was that surprised by it; he’d spent a lot of nights out with co-workers at places just like this, drinking and telling inappropriate stories and blowing off work-related steam. He wasn’t really sure that anyone really needed their help doing so--salary men were pretty good at all of these things already, afterall--but he was still glad to be there, which sort of surprised him. Especially when he realized that he was actually happier sitting here with Shingo and Ohkura than he would have been in one of the office workers spots, sitting around in his rumpled suits and trying to drink away his work-related frustrations.

Maybe it was the food and the booze talking, but Ryo thought that he might actually _like_ his current job working with Ohkura and Shingo and all the other Eito Rangers, just a little bit, ridiculous as it all was. Well, he hadn’t seen that one coming.

Shingo chose that moment to sling an arm around his shoulders, pulling him into one of those manly half-hugs that would have annoyed him had he been any more sober. “Having fun, Yellow?”

“Yeah.” Ryo nodded and smiled, realizing it was true. He might have even been a bit sad a couple of hours later when they had to stumble out the door or risk missing their last train.

∞

“Hello?” Ryo glanced at the clock, his head pounding from the beer he was pretty sure Shingo and Ohkura had forced on him the night before. 8 am. Who the hell was calling him at 8 a.m.? If it was Yoko calling him about another mission, he was going to kill him. “If this is about another mission, Yoko, the answer is no.”

“Ah, Mr. Nishikido, did I wake you?”

“Mr. Matsumoto?” Ryo sat up, ignoring the pounding in his temples and blinking rapidly to try to wake himself up. “No--I mean, yes, but that’s fine. Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

“So I gathered.” Matsumoto laughed, sounding entirely too awake for Ryo’s liking. “Sorry to call so early, but I wanted to see how things were going over at Mugendai.”

“Mugendai?”

“The company you’re currently working for.”

“Oh them--um, they’ve been good.”

“That’s good to hear. No more issues, then?”

“No... not really.” Ryo frowned, wondering if Yoko or someone had complained about him.

“Nino said you seemed interested in finding something else.” Nino. Of course--why was he not surprised?. “If you’re still not satisfied with your current placement, we do have another position we could offer you.”

“Really?” Ryo paused, putting his anger on hold for the moment.

Matsumoto hummed in answer. “Yes. It pays a bit more than your current position.”

“What would I be doing?”

“Just normal office work.”

“Normal?”

“Filing papers, creating spreadsheets, playing solitaire when the boss isn’t looking--the usual.”

Ryo ran a hand through his hair, mussing it as he mulled the offer over. Part of the reason he’d told himself he’d stuck with this crazy sentai business was the pay and the fact that he could always look for something better after. He’d already gotten his pay, and after a few more days he’d have that shiny bonus Yoko had been holding over his head, too. And if he decided to take this, he’d have the position he’d been looking for, too. It was almost too perfect.

Only, when he really stopped to think about it, he’d actually enjoyed himself these past few days and he didn’t think he _wanted_ to leave. Even with as weird and annoying as some of his new co-workers were, he still enjoyed being around them. He even sort of liked the missions, stupid as they were.

“Thank you, but I think I’d like to stay with Mugendai.” Ryo’s words came out in a jumbled rush, afraid that if he didn’t get them all out at once he’d start to doubt himself.

This was probably one of the more stupid decision he’d ever made. Oddly, he was kind of okay with that.

“I’ll pass the office position along to someone else, then.”

“Thank you.”

“Just doing my job.” Another pause, and when Matsumoto spoke again the amusement was obvious in his voice. “Good luck saving the world.”

Ryo grinned. “Thanks, but I don’t really think I’ll need it.”

∞

When Ryo got to the comic shop the next day, he was surprised to find everyone there, waiting for him. Well, everyone was waiting for him except Ohkura, who was stretched out between two of the uncomfortable plastic chairs, sleeping--still, he was actually on time so that had to count for something.

“Ah, Yellow.” Yoko was grinning at him from behind his desk and looking entirely too pleased with himself. “Glad you made it in.”

“What’s going on?”

“We heard the good news!” Ryo jumped as an arm slipped around his shoulders and turned his head to find Yasuda standing next to him, dressed in something that looked like it belonged in one of Rainbow Brite’s nightmares and beaming at him.

“Good news?”

“That you decided to stay with the team.” Another arm slipped around his shoulders and Ryo turned his head to find Maru on his other side, beaming at him like a proud parent. “You’re officially one of us now!”

“Wait--where did you hear that?”

“From Jun.”

Ryo blinked, taking a second to process that. ”You mean Matsumoto? You know him?”

Across the room, Yoko had kicked his feet up onto the desk and leaned back in his chair, looking downright smug. “Of course. We wouldn’t trust something as important as recruiting to someone who didn’t believe in our mission.”

“And Jun gave us a discount.”

“That, too.” Yoko grinned. “I knew from the moment I saw you that you’d make a perfect addition to our team, Yellow.”

“You did not.” Shingo rolled his eyes and gave Yoko a half-hearted smack. “You kept saying he was going to leave us high and dry and then we’d be stuck recruiting again.”

“And we’d be so busy recruiting that we’d never be able to help anyone,” Maru added helpfully.

“And then we’d all grow old and die alone and miserable, waiting for help that never came.”

“Okay, maybe I was a little worried at first.” Yoko ignored Subaru’s answering snort and held up his hands to silence them. “The important thing is that Ryo’s here with us now.”

Ryo flushed, not quite sure how to take it when 5 faces turned to grin at him (Ohkura still seemed to be sleeping, but he shot him a thumbs-up without opening his eyes). He swallowed and grinned back, hoping that they weren’t going to ask him to make a speech or anything idiotic like that.

Luckily for him, Yoko was actually useful for once and broke in just when Ryo felt the urge to start fidgeting. “Did I mention I bought a cake?”

Ryo might have been annoyed that the cake seemed to get a more enthusiastic response than he had (especially since he hated cake), but given the way that Maru and Yasu tugged him over to have a seat while everyone else grinned, he couldn’t really find it in him to be that upset. Maybe this saving the world business wouldn’t be so bad afterall.

(But he was still keeping his resume up to date. Just in case.)


End file.
